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| Bridges Now and Then posted A look at Waco, Texas' Suspension and Interurban Rail Bridges, 1913. (Waco Texas History) Joe Breeden: May sound 'corny', but it would be nice to have '''time travel'' to go back & watch the construction of those structures & travel across them too |
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| Street View, Nov 2016 Dennis DeBruler commented on Joe's comment You can still cross the suspension bridge. https://maps.app.goo.gl/ftYT5wKmnKvCQfb7A |
"Significance: When completed in 1869, the 475'-0" [145m] long Waco
Suspension Bridge was the state's first major suspension
bridge. The first bridge to span the Brazos River, it
originally featured two castellated pink brick towers. The
span opened as a toll bridge on January 7,1870. Its toll
houses feature stepped gable roofs, parapets, and round
arched openings." [HAER_data]
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| HAER TEX,155-WACO,1--23 (CT) |
In the foreground, we can see the three piers of the lost interurban bridge. The left pier has been painted and a lookout was built on top of it.
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| Rick Benz, Jan 2021 |
The sculpture on the south side is called "Branding the Brazos."
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| Street View, Jul 2023 |
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| HistoricBridges "This bridge was one of the largest suspension bridge spans in the world when the original structure was completed in late 1869/early 1870. In 1913/1914, most of the original bridge structure was replaced, including the cables and stiffening trusses. As such, a 1914 construction date can easily be argued to be more appropriate for this bridge. The large brick towers appear to be the only major remnant of the original bridge and even they appear to be substantially altered from the original design." |
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| Bob Dover posted The Waco Suspension Bridge, constructed over the Brazos River in the middle of Texas in 1870, is a bit of an enigma. Other than three million locally-made bricks used to construct the suspension towers, the other materials, including the wire-rope produced by the Roebling Company in Trenton, New Jersey, had to be transported to the site from the eastern US by rail, ship, riverboat, and, finally, wagons pulled by oxen. This enormous effort needed to construct the suspension bridge in what was, in 1870, an extremely remote place, is part of its charm. Given that this location appears to be ideal for the construction of a bridge on piers, it is curious that the builders chose this substantial extra effort to build a complex suspension bridge destined to be crossed, mostly, by cows. However, whomever decided to spend the extra cost and effort to use the suspension technique did a great favor to more than 140 years of Waco residents, because the bridge is delightful. The two towers each consist of a stacked double-arch, built of brick, in a Spanish-Colonial style reminiscent of the Alamo, which is not that far away. The towers are about 50 feet high, and are faced with unadorned, flat walls. The railings are steel girders, and the deck is made of wood planks. The cables are anchored at either end of the bridge within matching brick structures, again in a Spanish-Colonial style, approximately 30 feet high. Both the cable anchor buildings and the above-deck portion of the towers are faced with white stucco or adobe. Therefore, the entire structure appears simple, clean, and glowing white. In 1870, the bridge was built largely to allow herds of cattle to be driven into the city from the Chisholm Trail. The bridge continued to be open to traffic through 1971, by which time several larger, newer bridges had been built over the Brazos. At that time, the bridge was closed to traffic and converted for pedestrian use only. The road that had formerly passed through the bridge was closed, and riverfront parks were constructed at either end of the bridge. |
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